This invention relates to testing seals on a shaft without the necessity for pressuring the system to operating pressure.
Installation of mechanical seals on the shafts of such rotating machines as high speed pumps is a delicate job requiring particular attention to cleanliness, alignmant and other details. It is not uncommon, however, for a new mechanical seal to fail during the first few minutes of use in spite of all precautions taken during its installation. Such an occurrence requires pulling the pump and replacement of the seal. This can be a costly and time-consuming procedure when the pump is located within a polymerization reactor, or other such vessel, which may contain several thousand gallons of material such as hydrocarbon fluid in the case of a polymerization reactor. In such an event, the reactor must be drained and purged of all hydrocarbon so the reactor may be safely opened. After seal replacement, the reactor must be dried and thoroughly purged with an inert gas (water and oxygen are catalyst poisons) and the reactor refilled. This entire procedure may require up to three days of reactor down time and considerable polymer production is lost if it should be that the seal fails and the procedure has to be repeated.